We Need to Talk About Kevin

We Need to Talk About Kevin is a 2011 British-American film adapted and directed by Lynne Ramsay from U.S. author Lionel Shriver's 2003 novel of the same name. A long procession of development and financing began in 2005 and filming eventually commenced in April 2010.

Tilda Swinton stars as the mother of Kevin, struggling to come to terms with her son and the murders he's committed. The film premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and was released in the United Kingdom on October 21, 2011.

The Plot: Adolescent Kevin Katchadourian (Ezra Miller) is in prison after committing a massacre at his high school. His mother, Eva (Swinton), a once-successful travel writer, lives alone in a run-down house and works in a mall travel agency in a town near the prison where she visits Kevin. She looks back at her memories of him growing up as she tries to cope with the anger and hostility of her neighbours, who know her to be Kevin's mother. Her memories are shown in flashbacks.

Throughout Kevin's life he has been detached and difficult. He does not bond with his mother; as a baby he cries incessantly, resists toilet training, rebuffs her attempts at affection, and shows no interest in anything. While he is still small, Eva's frustration with his intractability drives her to throw Kevin against the wall, breaking his arm. When Eva tries to talk to her husband, Franklin (John C. Reilly), about her increasing concern about Kevin's problems, he dismisses her concerns and makes excuses for Kevin's behaviour.